Walking simulated toy



Dec. 20, 1960 c, AYALA 2,965,385

WALKING SIMULATED TOY Filed Nov. 2a, 1958 United States 2,965,385WALKING SIMULATED TOY Carl AyaIa,'Chicag0, Ill., assignor to Marvin I.Glass, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Nov. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 777,038 1 Claim. c1. 2s0 1.1s1

ample, a riding toy which has become very popular is a horse mounted onsprings. However, when riding such a horse the child must imagine thatheis moving. Attempts have been made to provide a riding toy which a childcould walk along a supporting surface, but the resulting toys have beencomplicated and expensive or wouldnt work.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toyanimal, or the like, on which a child can ride and which moves with asimulated walking action.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a riding toy whichcan be easily manipulated by the rider. Still another object of thepresent invention is the provision of :a durable riding toy which isreadily and inexpensively manufactured.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be "understood byreference to the following specification and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the present inventionshowing a child mounted thereon, the toy rocked toward one side;

Figure 2 is a similar view to Figure 1 showing the toy rocked toward theopposite side;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side view of the toyshown in Figures 1 and 2with the side of the body broken away to show the internal constructionof the body;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a top view of the toy shown in Figures 1 and 2 with portionsbroken away to show the internal construction of the toy; and

Figure 6 is a sectional side view of one of the forward legs of the toyshown in Figures 1 to 5.

Generally, the riding toy shown in the drawing com- .prises a body 10having a pair of generally vertically disposed forward legs 12 and 13and a pair of generally vertically disposed rearward legs 14 and 15depending therefrom. Means 16 are provided for pivotally supporting theupper ends of each of the legs 12, 13, 14 and 15 and aft directionrelative to the body 10 as a unit. Each 1 of the forward legs 12 and 13is provided with a means 28 for'manu'ally swinging the interconnectedlegs 12 and 14,

and 13 and 15, respectively, as a unit.

atent Before describing the toy in detail, a brief explanation of thegeneral operation of the toy is given hereinafter so as'to facilitatethe understanding of the toy. The child mounts the body 10 of the toyand, when he desires to advance the toy, he rocks the toy toward oneside which, as shown in Fig. 1, may be toward the right-hand side of therider. As is shown inFigure 1, the foot members 17 on the left-hand sideof the body 10 are thus raised from the supporting surface, and hence,the left-hand pair of interconnected legs 12 and 14 may be manuallyswung by pushing forwardly on the associated means 20 disposed on theforward leg 12. When the left-hand pair of interconnected legs 12 and 14are advanced to their forwardmost position, the rider rocks toward theleft-hand side, as shown in Figure 2, thereby raising the foot members17 on the right-hand side of the body 10 and permitting the rider toswing the right-hand pair of interconnected legs 13 and 15 toward theirforwardmost position. The rider then rocks back toward the right-handside, as shown in Figure 1, and again advances the left-hand pair ofinterconnected legs 12 and 14. The rider repeats this sequence ofoperations and thereby walks the toy to the extent desired.

More specifically,the illustrated toy simulates a miniature horse orpony, the body 10 of which is provided with a cavity 22 for containingthe mechanism. The body 10 may be constructed of a high strengthmaterial, such as steel, and in twomating pieces. Suitably attached tothe rear end of the body is a tail 24, and to the front end of the bodyIt! is a head 26. The head 26 may be mounted to the body 10 bytelescoping a socket 28 in the head 26 over a rectangular bar 30extending upwardly at an angle from the body 10. Appearance of the head26, tail 24, body'ltl, etc., are not an important part of the inventionand, therefore, they may be constructed and interconnected in anyconvenient manner.

The upper ends of the legs 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the walking toy arepivotally supported by means 16 which, in the illustrated embodiment,includes a pair of spaced apart transversely extending shafts 32 and 34disposed within the cavity 22, one 32 being located near the forward endof the cavity 22 and the other 34 near the rearward end of the cavity22. The shafts 32 and 34 are journalled in bearings 36 in the side wallsof the body 10, and transverse movement of the shafts 32 and 34 isprevented by suitable means such as a retaining clip 37 inserted in asuitable annular groove (not shown) in each end of the shafts 32 and 34.

Suitable slots 39 are provided in the lower wall of the body 10 for thepassage of the legs 12, 13, 14 and 15, the slots 39 being long enough topermit the legs to pivot a sufficient distance fore and aft to walk thetoy. The forward and rearward edges of the slots 39 are bent upwardly toprovide a stop for the movement of the legs 12, 13, 14 and 15, and alsoto prevent rough edges.

For ease in manufacture, the forward and rearward legs 12 and 13, and 14and 15, respectively, are constructed in a similar manner. Therefore, inorder to facilitate the description of the legs, one of the forward legs13 is described hereinafter. The forward leg 13 includes a pivot member38 by which the leg 13 is pivotally mounted to the associated shaft 32.in order to reduce the tension on the shaft 32 due to the side rockingmovement of the toy, the pivot member 33 is designed to provide abearing44 and 46 adjacent each side of the cavity 22. Moreover, by spacing thebearings 44 and 46 at a maximum distance the side movement of the leg 13due to tolerances in the manufacture of each of the bearings 44 and 46is reduced.

-In the illustrated embodiment, the pivot member 38 includes ahorizontally extending portion 4% a portion 42 which extends outwardlyand downwardly at an angle from the horizontally extending portion 40,and the bearings 44 and 46 disposed in right angular relationship to thehorizontally extending portion 40 at the ends thereof.

The horizontally extending portion 40 and the downwardly extendingportion 42, which are constructed in the device illustrated of twomating pieces each of which may be a metal stamping or the like, have ahollow rectangular section strengthened by tension flanges 48 on theupper and the lower surfaces thereof. The bearings 44 and 46, which maybe right angle extensions of one of the mating pieces, are provided withapertures 50 for receiving the associated shaft 32.

The distance between the bearings 44 and 46 is made slightly less thanthe width of the cavity 22 so that the bearings 44 and 46 of each of theforward legs 12 and 13 may be alternated along the associated shaft 32as shown in Figure 5, the horizontal portions 40 of the respectiveforward legs 12 and 13 being arranged on opposite sides of the shaft 32.The pivot members 38 of the rearward legs 14 and 15 are similarlyconstructed and similarly arranged on the shaft 34, similar parts beingdesignated in the drawing by the reference numeral and the suffix a.

The downwardly extending portion 42 of each of the pivot members 38forms a socket of rectangular cross section which receives the upper endof a center member 54 of each leg 12, 13, 14 and 15, which in theillustrated embodiment is a hollow rectangular section of such size asto be press-fitted into the pivot member 38. The lower end of each ofthe center leg members 54 is suitably attached as by welding to the hoofor foot member 17.

Each of the foot members 17 is curved both transversely andlongitudinally of the body so that the toy may be rocked sideways andfore and aft. Preferably, so that the toy is not easily tipped over bythe child riding thereon, the center of curvature of the transversecurve of each of the foot members 17 is centrally disposed above thebody 10 of the toy a distance such that the combined center of gravityof the toy and the rider falls below the center of curvature. In thisway, when the toy is tilted to the side, it will have a tendency toright itself. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the outerportion of the transverse curve is flattened to provide a stop for theside rocking movement of the toy, the center of gravity being therebyprevented from moving beyond the area of the foot members 17. The innermarginal portion of each of the foot members 17 may be curved upwardlyas illustrated in Figure 4, in order to increase the stability of thetoy in its upright position and to enhance the appearance of the toy.

So as to facilitate the operation of the toy, the center of curvature ofthe longitudinal curve of each of the foot members 17 may be located ator above the level of the pivot point of the associate leg 12, 13, 14and 15. In this way, the center of gravity is not raised during forwardrocking movement of the body 10. Moreover, the center of curvature maybe situated slightly toward the rear of the pivot point of each of thelegs 12, 13, 14 and to increase the tendency of the toy to moveforwardly. Of course, the foot members 17 are made long enough to insurethat the toy rides on an arcuate surface at all times.

In order to enhance the simulation of the hoofs of a horse, the uppersurface of each of the foot members 17 may be enclosed by a hollowfrusto-pyramid-shaped member 56. The member 56 is provided with arectangular aperture 58 at its apex for the passage of the center legmember 54 of the associated leg 12, 13, 14 and 15. The pyramid shapedmember 56 is attached to the foot members 17 by suitable means, as bywelding a flange 60 on the lower edge of the pyramid shaped member 56 toa mating flange 62 on the foot member 17.

So that the forward leg 12 and 13 and the rearward leg 14 and 15 on eachside of the body 10 will simultaneously swing as a unit, each forwardleg 12 and 13 is mechanically interconnected to the rearward leg 14 and15, respectively, on the corresponding side of the body 10 by thelinking means 18. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the linkingmeans 18 is an elongated rod having its ends turned transversely thereofand inserted into apertures 64 extending transversely through thecentral leg members 54 ofthe forward leg 12 and 13 and correspondingrearward leg 14 and 15, respectively. The ends of the linking means 18are suitably retained in the apertures 64 by engaging a retaining clip66 with an annular groove (not shown) in each end of the linking means18 or by utilizing nuts, fasteners, or such.

So that the rider of the toy may have control over the movement of theinterconnected legs 12 and 14, and 13 and 15, respectively, the stirrupor foot bracket 20 is attached to each of the forward legs 12 and 13. Inthe illustrated embodiment the foot bracket 20, which is generallyL-shaped, is attached to each of the forward legs 12 and 13 by means ofa bolt 67 which extends through an aperture (not shown) in the footbracket 20 and through an aperture 68 in the center leg member 54. Ifdesired, in order to adjust the height of the foot bracket 20, a seriesof such apertures 68 may be disposed in the center leg member 54.

The above invention provides a toy which may be easily advancedforwardly and backwardly by a small child with little or no skill. Thetoy is easily rocked to one side, which may be the right side, by therider bearing toward that side, the rocking movement being stopped bythe toy rocking onto the flattened area on the outer portion on each ofthe right-hand foot members 17. Then the rider swings the interconnectedlegs 12 and 14 on the left-hand side of the body forwardly by pushing onthe left-hand foot bracket 20, the toy simultaneously rocking forwardlyon the right-hand foot members 17 until the movement is stopped by therighthand legs 13 and 15 making contact with the rearwardmost edges ofthe slots 39. After the left-hand legs 12 and 14 are advanced, the riderleans toward the left-hand side of the body thereby rocking the toytoward the left, the rocking movement being stopped by the flattenedarea on the outer portion on each of the left-hand foot members 17. Theright-hand legs 13 and 15 are then swung forwardly by pushing on theright-hand foot bracket 20, the toy simultaneously rocking forwardly onthe left-hand foot members 17. The rider then rocks back to theright-hand side and advances the left-hand legs 12 and 14. The sequenceof operation is repeated so as to thereby advance the toy to the extentdesired, the movement of the toy thus simulating the walking movement ofan animal.

While the toy is described in the form of a simulated horse, it shouldbe realized that the invention is equally applicable to other simulatedanimals. Various changes can be made in the above described walking toywithout departing from the scope of the invention.

Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the followingclaim.

I claim:

A toy which is adapted to be ridden by a child, comprising a body, apair of transversely extending shafts supported by said body, one ofsaid shafts being disposed near the forward end of said body, the otherof said shafts being disposed near the rearward end of said body, a pairof generally vertically disposed forward legs, a pair of generallyvertically disposed rearward legs, a pair of pivot members on each ofsaid shafts, each of said pivot members including a transverse portionwhich extends along its associated shaft, a pair of spaced apartbearings, one of said pair of bearings being connected to each of theends of said transverse portion and rotatably engaging said associatedshaft adjacent each .of the ends thereof, and means connected to one 5 send of said transverse portion for connecting one of References Cited inthe file of this patent said legs to said pivot member, the lower end ofeach UNITED STATES PATENTS leg belng adapted to make contact with asurface on which the toy is to be manipulated, and means me- 111641097Campbell July 1951 chanically interconnecting each forward leg to therear- 5 11615383 Hossw 1927 Ward leg on the corresponding side of saidbody whereby 2325496 Flemmg July 1943 said legs will simultaneouslyswing in a fore and aft 2'712937 Ben July 1955 direction relative tosaid body as a unit.

